


Life of Royalty

by DoomedTimeline, StrangledCreativity



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternia used to be a kingdom, Arranged Marriage, Caring siblings, Castles, Cookies!, Dave literally just loves cookies, Derse is a kingdom, Multi, Negotiations between queens, People die offscreen, Prospit is a kingdom, Royalty Dynamics, THEYRE ALL DUTCH WITH DUTCH NAMES, and says how they die, its not graphic but its mentioned, people forced into jobs, royalstuck, sibiling dynamics, theyre all pissed about their situations, you cant hide from the gay thoughts about jake english
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-06-03 17:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6620257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomedTimeline/pseuds/DoomedTimeline, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangledCreativity/pseuds/StrangledCreativity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A proposal has been negotiated between the two kingdoms, an arranged marriage is to happen. They may not like it, but a royals first duty is to their kingdom, regardless if it is their own best interest.<br/>[ON HIATUS]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolog

**Author's Note:**

> (this was originally longer but i lose almost half of it when i had to reset my computer)  
> ((this is also just half of what was originally going to be the first chapter after the recovery))

Once, long ago, there lived three Kingdoms. Derse, Prospit, and Alternia. Their history is great and long, wars fought both together and against each other, until long while ago, though barely 50 years, the Kingdom of Alternia vanished off the face of their small world. A civil war had broken out, a war that had been brewing for centuries between the queen and her heiress. The fight between the two factions had led their kingdom to disarray, causing it to crumble and fall. With the Alternian Empire dead and gone, those who escaped the madness of the war fled to their neighboring Kingdoms, Derse and Prospit. They were happy to take in the immigrants, so long as they contributed to the society.

The Other Kingdoms, Derse and Prospit, well... their history is much more complicated. Prospit, the Kingdom of gold as some had called it, was indeed a wealthy country, their people usually ran businesses, though the success of it varied. Their current queen, Queen Jade the First, had been on the throne for almost 60 years, Her Original successor, Jade the Second, was a weak woman, her body could not withstand having many children, much to the dismay of her husband of the time, she had tried many a time to carry a child, but the child was either still born, did not live very long after birth, or simply miscarried. Until one day, the queen was with child again, she was determined for this child to live. So she went on a small journey, to the witches cottage nearby and begged the witch to allow this child of hers to live. The witch agreed and bestowed just enough power into the queen so the child would live through birth. The queen thanked the witch very much and left without seeing over a payment for the witch, and when the time came for the queen to give birth to this child, she was bestowed with a beautiful baby girl, doubly name Jade the Third. Though shortly thereafter, the witches curse, unknowingly placed on the queen, took hold, killing her in a few short minutes after the birth of her child. Her husband, stricken with grief, became mad and soon died there afterward. Leaving Jade I to raise the dead couples children, The Babe Jade III and the two year old Jake, who was an illegitimate child the queen had had with a servant. No one knew how the kingdom would fair with an old woman, who was slowly losing her mind through no means that people of the time could understand, ruling over them.

Derse, on the other hand, was very prosperous, though not with wealth or gold. No. Their wealth came from their knowledge and art, a wealth all its own. Their Queen Roxana, who had barely been on the throne for two years with her brother, Prince Diederik alongside her. The old queen had died of sickness, leaving Roxana in charge given that the king had died several years earlier in a war that the kingdom had needlessly interfered in. The king could not stand the thought of his friends fighting alone so he decided to give them aid. He died leading the cavalry into the soldier, being impaled by a spear by an enemy soldier.  Some say he deserved it, Others say that he was a brave and kind king, but the others didn’t care. They had barely known their father, and a kingdom ruled by a queen, well Historically it was stronger. The Old queen had 4 children in total, The current Queen, Roxana, the Prince Diederik, and a set of twins, Rosalie and David. The birthright of the twins was sketchy at best but they didn’t mind, neither of them wanted to assume the throne. Rosalie had denounced any right she had to it and had become the Royal Librarian. David, on the other hand, did not denounce his right to it and kept his title as prince, but it could’ve well meant nothing as he became the head knight of the royal guard.

 

Even though we have such an astounding history of these two kingdoms on their own, their history together is quite strenuous to say the least, they have had a past full of conflict and near encounters with war. Most say they hate each other. Others say that it was just the Royalty at the time, but to tell the truth… One kingdom could not exist without the other. Their economies depend on each other, to cut off trade between the two kingdoms would be to fundamentally destroy their economy. More recently, an idea had been introduced by Queen Roxana, a proposal to end all future conflicts. This proposal was a marriage contract, a marriage to unite the kingdoms. This marriage was to be between Prince David and Princess Jade, as they respectfully came of age. As another notion of peace, Queen Jade I had suggested that the illegitimate child, Jake, be taken under Diederik’s wing as his page. Roxana, of course, had agreed to this, as any denial would be seen as rude and could have led to the whole agreement being called off.

 


	2. For The Good Of The Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Queen Roxy and Prince Dave get back to the castle after negotiations

 

“Queen Roxana, I highly suggest you- “

“I will not take advantage of her health to get the better end of the deal.”

“But think of the kingdom! Wouldnt it be good if this old hag just-…”

Roxana shot him a death glare, quickly silencing the advisor. She got up and smoothed her dress

“She is still a queen Burr, and you will respect her like one” she said and picked up the front of her dress, walking into the room where the negotiations would happen.

“The Queen of Derse, Roxana!” the steward called as she stepped in, the few servants around bowing to her. She stepped in and went to the Elder queen who was already sitting at the table.

“Queen Jade the First” she said slowly as she curtsied before the elderly woman “it is an honor to meet you”

“Queen Roxana” the older said “excuse me for not getting up, but as you can see” she gestured to her legs which were covered in a blanket “my bones have gotten too old for them to support me”

“That is quite alright, neither of us are currently in a place to use our power” she said, slowly standing straight again “but I give you respect because you are my elder and my equal”

Jade I chuckled slightly “well let’s move the pleasantries aside and start the negotiations shall we?”

Roxana nodded and sat in the chair across from the other queen.

“I would assume you remember my proposal?” Roxana asked

“For the most part, but would you remind me?”

“Well, to make it short. I propose that we should use a marriage to combine our two kingdoms. Our people depend on each other, on an economic stand point at least. We haven’t had a war against each other since before the rule of your own mother, majesty”

The elder queen watched the younger, folding her hands in front of her face, looking serious

“And who do you suggest the marriage be between? There is only one eligible child of mine that can ascend my kingdoms throne, and if it does combine our kingdoms you would be queen as I am too old to continue ruling and the young ‘couple’ per say would be heirs apparent.”

“I have three sibling’s majesty, a sister and two brothers. My sister has denounced her right to the throne though her twin did not, and my other brother rules alongside me as my vice-regent. I would suggest my youngest brother, Prince David, to marry your granddaughter, Jade the Third, as I do believe they are around the same age are they not?”

“They are, but neither of them are of age to take upon the title of Crown prince or princess. My Jade has barely turned eighteen, and your brother David is nineteen. We can arrange the marriage now and then have them take their rightful titles when they are twenty-one. Does that seem fair?”

“Yes it does Majesty, I am glad we have the same view”

“Now you said you have another brother, correct? The one who is your vice-regent?”

“Yes, my brother Diederik rules with me, might I ask why you asked?”

“My daughter had another child, one two years before Jade, his name is Jake. He has no claim to the throne what so ever. A bastard child as you will. I suggest that he be taken under Diederik’s wing, as a page of sorts. What say you?”

Roxana thought for a moment, crossing her arm and raising a finger to her lip, deep in thought.

“It is reasonable…. I will have to talk to my brother about it first. But otherwise yes, we accept, if he is not used as my brother’s page... we certainly have other knights who would be willing to take him”

Jade the First nodded, “Then our contract is set. Prince David will come to my kingdom before the month is over and he will meet Princess Jade. Within two years’ time, they will become husband and wife. Joining our two kingdoms as one”

“They will receive an escort at the border. Diederik will join them as to meet the boy page that you have ‘given’ to him.” Roxana sighed, closing her eyes slightly.

Jade reached across the table and offered her hand to the other, who accepted and shook.

“Thank you for meeting me, Queen Jade” Roxana said as she pulled her hand away.

“You’re welcome Queen Roxana, you are young but you know your politics”

“Thank you again” she chuckled and watched as the older queen was rolled out of the room to her carriage. Roxana sighed and leaned back in the chair, her heart racing slightly. One of the servants came up and offered her a glass of water which she took gladly.

“That was… nerve wracking to say the least” Roxana said quietly

“Yes majesty” the servant next to her replied

“Fetch David for me will you?”

“Yes Majesty” the servant said and left the room for a second, the door opening a few seconds later with David coming in and leaning on the table next to her

“How did the negotiations go Rox?” he asked

“As they do Dave… But you may not like part of it”

He frowned at her “Why, what did you agree too?”

“You’ve heard of Princess Jade right?”

“Yes, there are few who haven’t”

“I proposed that you get married to her”

Dave stared at her, not saying anything for almost a minute.

“You suggested what?”

“You’re going to get married to Princess Jade within two years and take title as crown prince when the both of you turn twenty-one”

“But I’ve never even met her!”

“Dave please,” she stood up, facing him “you have to think of the Kingdom before yourself”

“Why couldn’t dirk marry her?” he said quietly, gripping the table.

“Dirk is six years older than her Dave, that gap is too big”

Dave sighed and crossed his arms, “I have two years to marry her?”

Roxana nodded, “Yes, you and Dirk are going to meet her at the end of the month”

He sighed again and pushed himself off the table, “Okay, I’ll go and get the horses ready for you”

“Thanks Davey” she smiled and sipped her water.

A few minutes later, Dave came back and escorted her out to the carriage, the hot sun blazing above them. It was hot inside the carriage and Roxana was glad that she didn’t have to wear such large dresses like other women in her court did. She took off her somewhat heavy crown and relaxed in the seat, fanning herself.

“Roxy” Dave called through the screen of the carriage window

“Yes Dave?”

“if it gets too hot for you, just tell me and we can take off the top”

Roxana smiled, raising the small screen that covered the open window and looking at her brother through it

“I could always come ride with you and we back all the servants in here so its quicker” she giggled.

Dave rolled his eyes and chuckled, “Or we could do that”

He was on his horse next to the carriage their pace slow so the servants walking behind them could keep up. Roxy had to point her gaze upwards when looking out the window to catch sight of him. Once they made eye contact and smiled, she disappeared back into the carriage. Falling asleep in it until she had woken up with Dave pulling her out in his arms.

“Dave?” she yawned, looking up at him through sleepy eyes

“We’re home Rox”

“Oh” she yawned again

“Go back to sleep Roxy, it is a little past sun down. I’ll take you upstairs to your room”

“Mmm… Thanks” she closed her eyes and drifted off again

\---

Dirk strolled around the castle, taking a break from hearings and the paper work that he and queen Roxana did together. Doing it alone was a lot more stressful than doing it with Roxana.

He sighed, Roxana was off in the middle of negotiating her proposal and he had to stay so that nothing happened while she was gone, him being vice-regent after all. As he walked through the hall, the few servants who were working stopped and bowed to him as he walked past. Only returning to work after he went past. Diederik couldn’t keep his mind off his sister the entire time she was gone, hoping nothing had happened on the trip, even though he knew he shouldn’t worry. Dave was with her and no one could defeat him in a scuffle. Roxana was to return hours later, exactly when he didn’t know, but there was no use worrying about it and allowing his worry to affect his work. He needed to get back to work-

His train of thought was interrupted as he ran into a servant who could barely see past the large stack of towels she carried, the small servant stumbled back and almost fell over, though Dirk caught her before she actually did fall. Placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

“Oh sorry, are you alright?” he asked calmly

“Yes of course I’m okay!” the small servant said angrily, turning her head to look at who ran into her “Just watch where you’re going ass-!” once she saw who she was talking to her mouth clamped shut, averting her gaze and backing away.s

“Sorry highness! I-I didn’t not know it was you!” she said, still refusing to look at him.

“It’s quite alright, I wasn’t looking where I was going”

“…. you’re not going to hurt me?”

“No it was a simple mistake,” he looked the servant over “hm... I don’t recognize you are you new? What’s your name?”

“…Nepeta, Highness” she said quietly.

“Well Nepeta, continue on with your work. Though I advise you to  watch for other people, they may not be as kind as I” he chuckled.

She nodded and bowed the best she could before running off to finish her job.

Dirk watched her go and chuckled to himself. He then looked outside, seeing that it was just after sundown. The royal carriage had pulled into the courtyard. Dirk’s eyes opened wide as he rushed down to the castle entrance where he saw Dave carrying Roxy up the steps.

“Dave!” He called as he ran down to them.

Dave looked up and placed a finger over his mouth, gesturing to the sleeping queen.

“What happened?” he whispered when he got to them.

“She fell asleep in the carriage after the meeting. I just told her to go back to sleep”

Dirk sighed and closed his eyes slightly as he began walking up the steps with him.

“Did she tell you the outcome of it?”

“Yeah… but I’ll let her tell you in the morning” he sighed

“Do you want me to carry her Dave? You seem tired”

“Nah, I got her. I’m just going to take her up to her room then check up with Rose before going to bed”

“Alright. Well goodnight baby bro”

“Don’t call me that dude”

Dirk chuckled and ruffled his hair, walking back to his office to finish up the paper work he had nearly forgotten.

\---

Dave carried Roxy up the back stairwell that servants did not travel often, it led straight to both Roxy’s and Dirk’s rooms. An easy way to hide from prying eyes. He sighed as he opened the door to her room, walking in and placing the queen on her bed. Taking care to remove her shoes and crown. He set the shoes next to her slippers and put the crown on her nightstand.

“Night Roxy” he said quietly and kissed her forehead before walking out of the room and heading to the royal library.

He opened the door to the library slowly and quickly stepped inside. His twin would probably be around her somewhere, either sleeping or reading amongst the books.

“Rose?” he called quietly, walking to the back part of the library.

“Hm? I’m over here Dave” she said and poked her head around a bookshelf. He sighed and walked over to her, giving her a hug.

“What’s wrong Dave? Did the negotiations take a turn for the worse?”

“For the kingdom? No, they went really well apparently. But for me? It couldn’t get worse”

“Why?” Rose asked quietly, pulling away enough so she could look at her twin.

“I have to get married to Princess Jade within two years’ time”

She sighed and pulled Dave’s head to her chest so she could pet his hair, “I’m sorry Dave, if they had an unmarried prince I could’ve taken my title back and married in place of you” she said quietly, running her fingers through his hair.

“No… I couldn’t let that happen to you”

“Dave look at me”

He did, resting his head on her chest.

“We would do the same for each other if the situations were switched, but also remember what we were taught as children”

“I know I know; we must think of the kingdom before ourselves” he sighed

“I know you may not like it sometimes but our first duty is to our kingdom, remember that”

Dave nodded and sighed again, pulling away from her. Though she pulled him down one last time to give him a kiss on the forehead.

“Go to bed Dave, I’ll see you for breakfast in the morning” she smiled

“Yeah, Night Rose”

“Night Dave”

Dave walked out of the Library slowly and headed to his own room. He lay on his bed thinking about the arranged marriage for hours, until finally… sleep took him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well then  
> thats the longest chapter ive ever written  
> seriously


	3. The Room Where it Happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxy tells her siblings the extent of the negotiations and two weeks later they leave

The three siblings waited for Roxana to join them at breakfast, they were not allowed to eat until she arrived as it would be rude to eat without her. She arrived a few minutes later and they stood, bowing to her until she sat down at her place at the table.

“Good morning” She said smoothly

“Good morning, Highness” the three said almost simultaneously.

“No need for the formalities,” she said waving the three of them off “You may sit”

They quickly sat and Dirk looked at her, a bit anxious to hear what had happened.

“So Roxy, how did the negotiations go?”

Dave tensed slightly and stared down at his empty plate. A thing that Dirk ignored, still wanting to hear what Roxy said

“It….went well.” She sighed “there are two- well, three agreements that we are to honor”

Dirk stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“Dave is to marry the princess Jade within two years, you and him are going to Prospit at the end of the month”

He looked from Dave to Roxy, raising his eyebrow slightly.

“Which of you proposed that idea?” he asked

“I did. When the two of them reach the age to assume the throne, Derse and Prospit will become one kingdom, ending all future war.”

Dave was clenching his fists under the table and Rose placed her hand over this, looking at him. He did not look good, he was trying his best not to burst out and yell at Roxy about how he didn’t want to marry the foreign princess.

“Sorry I forced this upon you Dave” Roxy said quietly

“No. its alright, its for the good of the kingdom”

Roxy shook her head slightly, “Well, Queen Jade did gift us a ‘Present’, so it’s somewhat good I guess”

The three looked at her confused, none of them had heard about this news.

“There is a bastard child among their court, and I'm assuming the reason why she gave him to us is because it is considered ‘inappropriate’ to keep him there”

Dirk nodded and Dave shrugged

“So what are the specifics of this ‘present'?" Dirk turned his head once again towards Roxana.

“He’s specifically been given to you Dirk, He’s going to be your page” she sighed

Dirk raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “And why was he given to me?”

“I don’t know, Dirk” she scoffed “I don’t know what goes on in the mind of an old woman”

She frowned, looking serious “Look, if you don’t want him just give him to another knight, I'm sure they wouldn’t care”

He sighed and leaned back, “I won’t refuse him, but I still don’t see why he was given to me”

“The only reason I accepted him was because if we didn’t, we would appear rude.” she said, dropping her head slightly “But the two of you are leaving at the end of the month, I don’t know exactly for how long... Queen Jade didn’t say”

Dave groaned, sliding down in his chair, acting like a whiny teenager.

“Sit up David,” Roxy scolded, “I know you don’t like this but it’s for the good of the people.”

He sighed and sat up, “I know it’s for the good of the people… but what if she's rude or gross?”

“I don’t care Dave, you'll have to deal with it”

He sighed again, “Yes ma’am…”

Roxy nodded and two servants soon came out, each pushing a cart. They placed trays of food in front of the royals, serving them.

Servants placed a spinach omelette in front of Roxana along with some sausage and toast. Dirk got a sausage omelette, with more sausage on the side. Dave just got some sausage and toast, spread with apple jam and lastly, Rose got peaches with cream.

The servants bowed and retreated to the wall, waiting for them to be finished eating or to request more food be put on their plate. They were soon done and the servants took away their plates.

“Roxana?” Dave asked quietly once the servants left.

“Yes Dave?”

“Can Rose at least come with us?” he looked up at her hope evident in his eyes.

She thought a moment and looked back at Rose, making eye contact. Rose's face remained unreadable, which didn't really help Roxana make her decision.

“And leave me all alone?” she chuckled, “I don’t see why she couldn't go, but the decision is hers to make.”

“If David wants me too, I can surely go. I can embarrass him in front of the princess” Rose gave a slight laugh.

“Then it is settled, Rose and I will accompany Dave to Prospit to meet the Princess Jade” Dirk said, looking around at his siblings.

They all nodded and Roxana smiled, “I _'_ ll get to wave my baby siblings off in two weeks”

 

-One week later-

 

“Dave?” Rose called, opening the door to his room “Are you in here? We’re all waiting on you for dinner”

The room stayed silent as she stepped in quietly, looking around. Dave's room was messy as always, as he did not like the maids cleaning his room. It was cozy to say the least. She looked over and noticed a book open on her twin’s desk, that was strange, he didn’t usually read. She walked over to examine the book and found that it was Dave’s ‘diary’ per say. She picked it up, knowing her brother wouldn’t mind as there were few things they kept secret from each other.

Inside the book there were comments and questions about how he would talk to Jade, how he should act around her and possible ways that he could actually start to love her (which included a surplus of cheesy and romantic pickup lines). Rose rolled her eyes slightly and chuckled, setting the book down. She was happy that Dave was going to put some effort into making things work with Jade, at least he was going to try.

 

-Another week later-

 

“Did you remember everything Dave?”

“Yes Roxy”

“Enough clothes?”

“We’re going to get some clothes there sis, I don’t need that many”

“Your books? Styluses?”

“Yes”

“Your dagger?”

“Yes mom,” he joked “I have everything, don’t worry”

Roxana sighed “I can’t help it, I practically raised you and Rose since mom couldn’t half the time”

“We know and we're grateful for that” Rose said, coming up behind them with a satchel over her shoulder.

“I'm going to miss you guys...” she sighed again “It'll be lonely without you three”

“Don’t worry Roxana, we’ll be fine. We probably won’t be gone for more than a month” Dirk said, putting one of the heavier bags onto the cart. They had chosen not to be very formal and just had a cart to carry the small amount of luggage they had, well... small compared to their usual. They had a small group of guards with them and all wore riding garments, Rose as well, which included thick leather pants lined with linen and a linen shirt and vest. Dirk took the satchel from his younger sister and placed it on the cart.

“it’s not that far, only a day’s trip. We’ll make sure to send you plenty of letters dear sister,” Dirk chuckled "We’ll have a messenger come back when we arrive, does that make you feel better?”

Roxana giggled and sighed “For the most part... but that won’t get rid of the indescribable loneliness I'll feel while you guys are gone”

Dirk rolled his eyes and went over to her, kissing her cheek “You'll get by”

Dave and Rose came closer and created a group hug with Dirk and Roxy in the center.

“We love you Roxy” Dave and Rose said together.

“And I love you two too,” she giggled and hugged each of them individually, kissing their cheeks.

“Just be careful alright?”

“We will,”

“Good”

They pulled away and went over to their horses, mounting them.

Roxana walked back so she was standing at the top of the steps and watched her siblings as they rode their horses to the gate, two guards ahead of them, few servants behind them driving the cart and two more guards pulling up the rear. They got to the gate and turned around, giving one last wave to their sister. A wave which Roxana returned.

“So long my siblings, stay safe and be under the protection of god” she whispered.

\---

A few hours later, Dave shifted uncomfortably in his saddle, gripping the reins slightly. Dirk looked over at him, starting to feel the uneasy aura of his younger sibling.

“Dave? Are you okay?”

“Absolutely,” he answered quickly, too quickly “Why? Does something not seem okay with me?”

“You seem tense, do you want to take a break? We have been riding for a couple hours” he sighed

“No… I'm fine” he said quietly

Dirk raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you take me for a fool?” he asked, equally as quiet “Tell me what's on your mind Dave”

Dave sighed and looked down, his shoulders slumping somewhat, “Im scared to meet Jade…”

Dirk nodded “Understandable”

“Like, what If I mess up when talking to her? And she thinks that I'm a complete idiot?”

“You're not going to mess up Dave, you're going to do fine”

“But what if I make a fool of myself?”

“You're not”

“but-!”

“David Strider, you are going to do just fine. Think of her like all those ladies in the court that flirted with you, act like you do in  front of them but act like you actually want to talk to them. Okay?”

“Okay…” he sighed, Dirk smiled and placed a hand on the youngers shoulder, rubbing it slightly.

“You're going to do great Dave, I know you are”

“….I still cant wrap my head around the fact that I'm going to marry her though”

“To be honest? I'm surprised Roxy didn’t offer up me to marry her” he chuckled

“I think it was because your too much older than her dude” the other giggled

“I'm only twenty four!” he pouted, puffing his chest out

“She's eighteen”

Dirk looked at him and shrugged “Six years isn’t that much”

“Dude, shut up” he giggled and punched Dirk in the shoulder

“I will never shut my glorious mouth” he joked

Rose rode up between them and sighed, shaking her head slightly

"Will the both of you stop it? You two are annoying”

“Oh what? Us? Annoying? We would never” Dave laughed loudly, seeming more relaxed than earlier.

She rolled her eyes “I can always go get a rope and gag you two”

“That’s kinky”

“Dave shut up”

“Never”

“I am not going to listen to you make sexual jokes for the rest of this trip. We have another seven hours and if I have to listen to you ramble, I will gouge my ears out”

“Okay, okay, jeez, I won’t make any more bad jokes”

“Good, because your jokes are not a thing I want in our course”

Dave looked at her in horror and Dirk burst out laughing. A small smile came up on Roses face as she giggled quietly.

“That was bad, you should feel bad Rose”

“And how often do I make jokes Dave?”

He pouted and quickly shut his mouth, only causing more laughter to erupt from his sibling's mouths.

“Well its good to see that you're feeling better” Dirk chuckled

“Yeah, I'll probably mess some stuff up but I shouldn’t let it get ahold of me”

“Mhmm” Rose agreed, leaning over on her horse to hug her twin

“Don’t worry Dave, I’ll be there to help as well” she smiled

He sighed and hugged her back with a single arm, “Thanks Rose, this is going to be a long trip”

“I know Dave, I know”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for the hamilton joke in the title  
> and roses shitty jokes  
> yep haha


	4. It's Too Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade and Jake get ready for the arrival of Dave and Dirk

Jade paused in front of her grandmother’s study. She didn’t know why her grandmother had summoned her, it had been a month since the old queen had returned from negotiations and she hadn't been told what had been discussed. Nothing had really changed once her grandmother had returned... so she assumed it all had gone well.

She took a shaky deep breath. Why was she being summoned? She hadn’t done anything bad recently, but she still had to build up the courage to knock. She raised her fist and knocked, waiting to hear a response from the door.

“Who is it?” an old frail voice called from the other side of the door.

“Jade, Grandmother” she answered, waiting to be allowed inside.

“Oh Jade? Come in dear!”

She sighed and opened the door, walking slowly towards the desk, “You wished to speak to me?”

“Yes, yes, how are the preparations going?”

Jade stared at her elder, extremely confused “What preparations?”

“Oh didn’t I tell you? The princes of Derse are going to stay with us for a while”

She froze, her grandmother forgot to tell them. She shook herself out of it. Her grandmother hadn't asked if the preparations were done yet, she had asked how they were going. This meant there was still time to get everything done.

“Y…you never told me grandmother,” she choked out “When are they su-supposed to arrive?”

“The end of the month,” the old queen smiled, “What _is_ the day, anyway?”

“….it’s the last day of the month grandmother…” Jade felt like she was about to shut down. There was almost no way she could manage two weeks worth of preparations in only a few hours. No, she had to calm down. There had to be some way.

The old woman stared at her blankly, “Oh, well you better start working on the rooms for your future husband and his brother” she said smiling slightly. Jade couldn't help but think that her grandmother had done this on purpose.

The younger squinted her eyes at the elder queen in clear disbelief. Surely she had heard wrong. There was no way her grandmother had forgotten something like that, she would’ve at least told her if they had decided something like that... right?

“My…what? Grandmother?”

“Your future husband,” the old queen sighed, rocking in her chair slightly, “You’re getting married to the second prince of Derse”

Jade pushed up her glasses slightly and pinched the bridge of her nose. She wished her grandmother told her things, but she didn’t have time to complain now. She needed to get two rooms suitable for foreign royalty within the next day.

“I shall talk to you about the marriage later,” she sighed, slightly angry, “Please do _not_ call for me or anyone other than your personal servants for the next day. Okay, grandmother?”

“Yes, yes dearie, go and fix up those rooms” the old queen said.

Jade quickly left the room, muttering under her breath. Yes, she knew her grandmother could be senile at times. She also knew, however, that her grandmother had _two weeks_ to tell her. Two weeks! Jade had every right to be angry, she was going to be so stressed dealing with everything.

Jade rounded up enough servants that she knew would be able to get the job done and stood in front of them, tapping her foot angrily.

“We have less than a day to get these two rooms ready for Dersite royalty” she said blatantly, looking around at the servants she gathered, “One of them is apparently my _fiancé,_ ” she scoffed “and the other is the vice-regent of Derse” she scanned the servants again, “Which of course means they have to be of equal quality as my own room, got it?”

The staff nodded, dispersing quickly and rushing off to get cleaning supplies and things for the room. Jade stood there and watched over them for a few minutes before rushing off to write things up for the arrival of the princes. She sat at her own desk for hours writing and rewriting, until one of the servants came in, making sure she ate some food and took a small break. A break in which she got up and checked the two guest rooms. It turns out that one of the rooms had needed a lot more cleaning than she had originally thought and wouldn’t get done for a couple hours. Thus putting her and the staff back a couple hours, a couple hours that they really didn’t have.

Jade's breath caught in her throat, she was starting to panic. She likely wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight and the guests were due to arrive within a couple hours of sunrise. If they had stopped for the night, a thing she had no way of knowing. Looking at the time she prayed to god that they did.

The young princess backed towards her study, pressing her back against the door. She sucked in quick breaths, trying to calm down. A few servants looked at her than at each other, once decided to step forward, worried for their princess.

“Princess? Are you alright-?”

“Get Jacob,” she said quickly, gripping her dress “Get my brother, I need Jake”

The servant looked at her worried for a second then nodded, rushing off quickly to get him. Jade slid down the door slightly and curled up into a ball. Several servants saw her but looked at her for barely a second, they really couldn’t do anything as per the princesses own orders.

She let out a small sob “itsnotgoingtobereadyintimeitsnotgoing-“ there suddenly was a hand on her shoulder and she jerked her head up, looking at the person in front of her.

It was her brother and she let out a sob of relief, throwing her arms around him, clinging tightly.

“Jake,” she breathed “oh god thank you-“

He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back “This isn’t the place, Jade,” he whispered into her hair “Come on, into your study” he hefted her up slightly and took her inside the room. He sat down with Jade on the couch she had in there, rubbing her back gently and whispering small things to her to help the young princess calm down.

“Shhh… it’s okay Jade,” he said quietly to her, “What happened?”

“Grandmother told me today that we had royal guests arriving tomorrow morning” she said against his shoulder.

“Her senility must be getting to her again…” he murmured.

“I have to do so much stuff to get ready for them and it just happens that one of the rooms needed much more cleaning than the other and it set us back..."

Jake nodded and turned his younger sibling around so her back was too him as he began braiding her hair, a thing he knew would bring her down at least a bit.

“I started to panic and thought that nothing was going to be ready when they got here…”

The older sighed and finished braiding her hair, tying it off with a small string, “Jade listen to me,” he let out a sigh “I know Queen Harley can get lost in her mind, but everything’s going to be okay, alright?” he got up and kneeled on the floor in front of her, “Go to sleep princess, everything will be taken care of by the time you wake up, okay?”

“But my paperwork-“

“It can wait princess,” he sighed “Sleep, you’ll need it”

Jade pouted for a second but reluctantly gave in, laying down on the couch and trying to fall asleep. Jake sighed and stood, blowing out the candle. As he shut the door to the princess’s study one of the servants came up to him.

“Am I needed somewhere?” he asked

“Queen Jade would like to see you”

He gulped, that was not good.

\---

Jacob gulped. He was standing in front of his grandma- the queen, the queen’s study. She rarely left her study due to her failing health, so most audiences were in her study. The servant who led him there stopped him front of the door and walked in, supposedly telling the queen who was here to see her. A few minutes later the same servant came back out and allowed him to go in.

He walked forward and kneeled before her desk, keeping his head bowed and eyes mostly closed. He held a hand over his heart with a respectful nod.

“You summoned me, my queen?” he asked slowly

“Yes child,” the queen said her old voice stern “I have been told that Princess Jade has spoken to you recently?”

“Yes majesty”

“About what?”

“She had begun to panic about preparations for the arrival of our Royal guests and requested me to her side” he tensed and closed his eyes completely, hoping that he didn’t get her in trouble.

The air of the room became softer and Jake almost looked up in confusion but quickly corrected himself.

“Alright then…” the queen sighed “so then I would guess she told you the news?”

He couldn’t help it, Jake looked up at his grandmother queen in confusion, he could see her old wrinkled face stare down at him harshly from above the desk. Her white veil pinned under her heavy gold crown.

“She told me about the royal guests coming but she spoke no word of anything else”

“Princess Jade will be married to the Prince David of Derse” she said coldly, her eyes getting dark.

He tensed, had he heard her right? _‘Jades going to get married? That must have been the other reason why she was panicking wasn’t it’?_ He thought, gripping his trouser leg.

“Why must I know this, majesty?” he asked, coming out in small cracks

“Because you are going to become Prince David’s older brother's Page”

Jake just stared at her, unsure of what to say or to do. He just knelt there on the floor.

“Stop gawking and stand up Jacob” she said firmly, the formalities slowly disappearing.

He did as told and stood up, wiping off his knees.

“I am going to be the older prince's Page?”

“Yes, I suggested you as a gift for the older prince. Queen Roxana certainly didn’t disagree”

“So I’ll be leaving the castle and will in Derse now…?”

“Oh stop whining about it, you’ll be the manservant of a vice-regent,” she huffed “that’s certainly a lot better than your current position, is it not?”

Jake sighed and looked down at the queen’s hands, watching them fold and unfold, rubbing at the dry and cracked skin there. “It is but….”

“But what child? Spit it out”

“I would have to be away from Jade”

The queen glared at him and sighed “We don’t know the exact details of whether or not David and Jade would be living here or in Derse. It is entirely possible that they’d move back and forth constantly, so stop your whining.”

Jake sighed again and noticed that his grandmother’s hands had started to bleed. He furrowed his brow and stepped forward

“Grandmother- “

She raised an eyebrow at him and was about to scold him on the use of the term that was really only allowed for Jade.

“Your hand is bleeding, allow me to stop it for you” he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly took the old woman’s bleeding hand. Dabbing at it slightly then wrapping it around the wound.

“Would you like for me to go fetch the Doctor?”

The queen looked at her hand and her expression softened, Jake reminded her so much of his mother it hurt slightly.

“No… it’ll be fine, these old hands can’t take anything anymore it seems…” she sighed and looked up at him “thank you Jacob”

“You’re welcome majesty”

“Grandmother”

“…. What?”

“I will allow you to call me grandmother in private”

Jake stared at her, the table of his emotions flipping in all directions the smiled brightly, “Thank you Grandmother”

The Old Queen smiled and leaned back in her chair, her hand slipping from her grandchild’s hold.

“The prince’s name is Diederik”

“Prince Diederik huh?”

“Yes, he runs the kingdom with Queen Roxana”

“Oh”

Jake couldn’t exactly find words again and he colored slightly, it was pretty astonishing that he was going to be a personal servant of basically a king.

“They should’ve reached the border by now, there’s a small entourage waiting for them there to escort them into the kingdom. A few more hours it seems,” the old queen sighed again “why don’t you go to bed Jacob? You’ll need it in the morning”

“Yes grandmother” he sighed, stretching slightly

“Good, now run along”

He nodded and bowed before turning around and leaving. Closing the study door behind him.

“A prince's page huh?” he murmured “This is going to be fun…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was waiting so long for my beta to read this oh my lord  
> but its hear finally  
> yeah


	5. On Our Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat picks the Dersite royalty up at the border and escorts them into the city

“I think we’re coming up on the border, Don’t you think?” Rose joked they rode up to a small battalion waiting at what seemed to be the end of the kingdom. The sudden shift between dense forest and lush golden blades of grass was astonishing, any outsider would call you an idiot for believing such a dramatic shift was possible. The group of soldiers stepped forward, their leader stepping farther, effectively stopping the other group.

“State your name and business with the Kingdom of Prospit” they called, standing several yards away. Their voice was high and it was hard to determine whether or not it was male or female, even with the distance, the strange build of the person decided that they had an origin of Alternia.

“Diederik Strider-Lalonde’,” Dirk called, pulling his horse to a stop “Vice-Regent of Derse, we have come to fulfill our deal with Queen Jade.”

“Who all are with you?” the stranger called again

“The Prince David, his sister Rose, and a few servants”

“Approach”

The team started forward again. Heading straight to the group of soldiers, most of which who took a knee and knelt before the oncoming royalty. One however, did not kneel before them. The leader of this small group of men.

“Majesties,” he bowed swiftly “I was ordered to be your escort into the kingdom”

“Rise,” Dirk said “We thank you for the escort, but first I would ask your name. As to know who is leading me into a strange kingdom”

“Karkat Vantas,” He said curtly as he stood straight again, fixing his scabbard “Captain of Princess Jade's Knights”

Dirk nodded and looked over to his brother. The younger for some reason could not tear his eyes away from the small knight. He cleared his throat and Dave shook his head quickly, remembering where they were.

“So Karkat, You will be leading us into the kingdoms capitol?”

“Yes Majesty,” He sighed, looking up the vice-regent “We will be on our way just as soon as my squadron mounts their rides”

Dirk nodded and waited, looking between his two siblings. Dave looked tense, gripping his reins hard and looking a bit pale. Rose on the other hand looked calm and had one of her hands atop her twins, a small notion to see if he would calm down.

\--

Karkat grumbled under his breath as he walked away from the other party, clenching his fists slightly as to give off how... perturbed he was.

“Stupid Dersites and their pretty pale faces and hair,” he muttered, only audible to himself “If we didn’t have word that they were arriving they’d be dead right now”

He sighed and mounted his horse, adjusting himself in the saddle. The rest of his team mounted after he did and he rode forward as to let the royal party follow them. The understood the gesture and rode forward without Karkat having to utter a word.

“Well hey,” he muttered sarcastically “at least they aren’t completely brain dead.” He turned and rode his beast onto the pasture path, a somewhat large dirty path that had been worn down and toughened by constant use of farmers and their wagons.

“Even though you are royalty, I would advise that you stay on the open path and don’t touch any of the wheat,” Karkat said over his shoulder “The farmers around here have been known to claim that anyone who wants their wheat is a witch” he shrugged, turning his head back to the road.

The seemingly younger prince rode forward slightly, being somewhat next to him.

“They’ll think were witches?” he asked with a small laugh “Whats wrong with witches and why do they have such a grudge against them?”

Karkat scanned the younger prince. _‘this must be the kid whos supposed to marry jade_ He thought _He seems like an idiot-_

“Have you never heard about what happened with our last queen?” He asked blandly, not really caring if he sounded rude

“No actually,” The other replied “I have not”

“Of course you haven’t,” he mumbled, quickly looking him in the eye “Our last queen died because of a witch. Queen Jade the second couldn’t have any children, so she went to a witch and asked for the witch to give her a child. The witch complied, but for reasons no one understands the witch killed the queen a few hours after the Princess was born”

The Prince stared at him, seemingly fascinated with the short story which made Karkat chuckle slightly. The prince was taken aback slightly at the chuckle and quickly sorted himself out, his skin flushing a bit. Whether it be from the sun or embarrassment.

“Oh, I'm David by the way” he smiled and offered a hand. A hand which Karkat promptly took.

“You heard my name so I wont bother to repeat it”

David chuckled and flashed a toothy smile, “You can still introduce yourself”

Karkat rolled his eyes “Fine, My name is Karkat Vantas. There you happy?”

Dave nodded “So Karkat, how long till we get to the castle?”

“Couple hours ride, if we don’t get side tracked with stopping”

He sighed and looked at the road ahead of them. The small walk of the horse jostling his hips, the landscape was full of nothing but golden wheat, it would soon be ready to harvest. A person couldn’t really realize why this kingdom was often referred as the kingdom of gold, Aside from its wealth.

“This is going to be a long ride”

\---

A few hours later, Karkat had gotten annoyed with Dave's constant blabbering and had just tuned him out. How could an eighteen year old be so childish? Espicially when said eighteen year old was a prince! Karkat huffed and shut his eyes. Dirk had noticed the young knights annoyance and called his brother back, so he could pester Rose instead.

He sighed in relief and opened his eyes, noticing a caravan riding up from a smaller path. Karkat eyed it, trying to place which business it was, and when he saw the side of the carriage, he sighed and knew who it was.

It was the Crocker Corporation, the largest company in Prospit.

The Elder prince rode up next to him, a quizzical look on his face, he opened his mouth to speak but Karkat knew what he was going to say.

“That’s the Crocker Corp caravan, coming in from the port with their latest shipment” He said, and Dirk shut his mouth

“If im assuming correctly, Either Jantine or Johan leading it,” he sighed “Hopefully its Johan, I’m on okay terms with him at the moment”

Dirk stared at him for a moment, his brain processing the names

“Jantine, you said?” he asked “As in Jatine Egbert-Crocker?”

Karkat rolled his eyes and sighed “Yes that Jatine. Who else would I be talking about”

Dirk shrugged “I don’t know, but I know her”

Karkat squinted at him. Yes, he knew that Crocker Corp sometimes went out to other countries. What  he didn’t know that Jantine herself had gone to Derse, much less interacted with any Derse royality

“How?”

“She had come to Derse with her father to buy things to take back to Prospit to sell,” he sighed “Roxana was about seven, as was Jantine I believe, and the two ran off to play. I just tagged along, being a little 5 year old”

Karkat looked at him and raised an eyebrow “How do you even remember this?”

He shrugged “I don’t exactly, Roxana remembers, she’s the one who told me”

The other shook his head and looked forward at the small caravan they were about to come close too

“Let me go ahead slightly and see which of the Egbert-Crocker’s are running this caravan” Karkat sighed, leading his horse forward, closer to the caravan.

The closer he came to the caravan, the louder he could hear that annoying high pitched voice, the voice that ultimately belonged to Johan Egbert-Crocker. Karkat groaned, he’d rather not talk to him but he had no choice. Karkat rode up next to the main carriage and looked up at the driver’s seat, and saw the youngest Egbert there, being greeted with that shrill voice.

“Karkat! Hey!” Johan cried happily and waved with a single hand, his blue tunic even brighter with the sun shining down on him

“Hello Johan,” Karkat sighed “Coming home from a business trip I assume?”

“Yeah, it was pretty good as you can see,” he said, gesturing to the large amount of baggage on the two carts. He turned his attention back to the knight “So, what are you doing this far out into the country?”

“Im escorting the Derse royalty to the Castle”

Johan looked at him and his jaw dropped

“Seriously??”

Karkat rolled his eyes “Yes you dimwit, look behind me”

Johan looked behind the cart and his jaw dropped even more, “Oh sweet! Maybe Jantine can get a deal with them!”

“Jantine knows the Queen of Derse”

Johan looked blankly, "Oh”

“I have to go back to them now,” Karkat huffed “Don’t mess shit up okay?”

“Why don’t you bring them up here? It’ll be less boring here” Johan chuckled

Karkat looked at him then shrugged “Don’t see why not, ill ask if they want too”

He stopped his horse and turned around, trotting toward his group,

“Its Johan,” he announced “he asks if you would join him on the ride back up to the capitol”

Dirk looked too his siblings, who nodded, and turned back to the knight.

“Sure, it might be good to have new company”

Karkat nodded and led the royals up to the caravan, going further than them to lead it.

Johan looked at the royals who had rode up next to him. His gaze immediately going to the younger prince, he held out his hand and smiled.

“Hi! Im Johan” he introduced, smiling brightly. Dave looked at the other and chuckled, taking his hand

“Prince David Strider Lalonde” he replied, and shook his hand “Nice to meet you”

Johan took his hand away and gave a small bow from where he was sitting

“Nice to meet you too highness”

Dave nodded “So, you’re the heir of Crocker corps?”

Johan shrugged “Yeah, though I’m probably never going to succeed Jantine”

“Heh,” Dave chuckled “yeah, I’m not going to succeed the thrown of Derse-“ he was cut off my Dirk clearing his throat and nudging him in the side “Well… I am going to be…a king….” Dave did not sound happy at this notion and both Karkat and Johan looked at him, brows furrowed

“You don’t want to be king?” John asked “but you’d have so much power”

“…I don’t want all that power” Dave mumbled “I just want to be a knight and protect people…”

The rest of the group stays quiet until Johan clears his throat.

“So! What’s your kingdom’s largest export?”

Dirk spoke up, seeing as Dave had become sober and looked down

“Our main export is steel,” he said, moving closer “We export everything from the raw ore to forged weapons”

John nodded “Do you guys have big business that sells them?”

“Not really it’s just a lot of small end traders and stuff”

“Interesting,” John thinks a moment “what if you guys struck up a deal with Crocker corps and sold them through us?”

Dirk shrugged “I have no say at the moment, it’s all up to Roxana”

“Understandable, I’ll tell Jantine about it” he chuckled “good business tactics”

“Yeah, good business tactics...”

\---

They had been riding for several hours. Once Dave had come out of his small sulking; he and Johan began talking, and talked they did. They had soon become good friends, laughing and talking about a lot of things. They soon came up on the capitols grand high walls, seeming gold with the sun’s rays. The oncoming royalty gawked at the walls until john cleared his throat.

“Well, I have to go through the merchant’s gate. So I'll see you guys around sometime” he smiled and rode off around the large wall, soon disappearing behind it.

“Well, we better arses moving before the afternoon crowd comes in,” Karkat sighed “Once they cover the road it’s impossible to get through, even _if_ you’re royalty”

He motioned forward and rode at a quick pace, not quiet a canter or gallop, but certainly faster. The buildings rose in size as they went further into the city, the architecture getting more and more advanced and elaborate.

The Dersites stared as they watched the architecture change, it was easy to tell which level of nobility the houses were for. Them getting bigger and bigger until they practically saw mansions in the city. It was amazing.

“The castle is right ahead, we’ll have to go through a gate and then we’ll be there” Karkat said, pulling the Dersites out of their trance. They looked forward and they saw the grand castle over top of the wall that protected it. Even from a distance, one could tell that the castle had such elaborate and frankly gorgeous.

“Stop gawking and keep moving, the crowd is about to appear” Karkat growled, snapping the Dersites once again out of their trance. They rode quickly up to the gate, the guards there giving a quick salute to and bow to Karkat as they rode past, not asking any questions.

They rode up to the stairs that led up to the castle and dismounted, their legs feeling slightly like jelly. Karkat handed off his reigns to a servant that came up.

“Tell the steward to tell Queen Jade that the Dersite royalty has arrived.” He said, “And get more servants down here to take their luggage to their rooms.”

“Their rooms aren't ready milord” the servant said quietly, shrinking back in fear of how Karkat may react. He sighed angrily and shut his eyes,

“Don’t tell me, Princess Jade didn’t know about it until yesterday?”

“Last night milord” they squeaked “Part of the staff had to leave a few hours ago work on their other chores”

“Is there an idea of when the rooms will be done?”

“Most likely an hour or two milord”

He sighed and turned to the royalty who were holding their horses reigns

"Forgive me but it seems you’ll have to wait a while before you can go rest in your rooms”

“That’s fine, just give us a place to sit and wait” Dirk sighed, stretching his legs out.

Karkat nodded and lead them inside, a few servants rushing out from the stables to take their horses

“Welcome, to the Prospit royal castle”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you guys want to see what ive been imagining the prospit castle ass, look up Mont saint michel   
> https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/0e/7e/7c/a-beautiful-day-at-mont.jpg  
> also sorry this took so long, ive been stuck in it


	6. Let's Eat Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave gets distracted by cookies

Dave looked around the inside of the castle entrance, paintings covered the walls, depicting the country’s history. All the way up to the most recent, that was worth painting. It was the previous queen –or so Dave thought- going to the witch and then next to it was the queen dying, her spirit over top the baby jade. He stood amazed at the paintings, he stood there until Rose nudged him in the side and made him move forward.

“It’s all so amazing, isn’t it?” he whispered to his twin, still looking around

“Yeah, it is,” she whispered back “but we have to relax some before paying attention to the details”

She took his hand and sighed, pulling him forward into the parlor. She sighed and made him sit, even though they had been sitting for several hours, it was better to not sit straddled atop a horse. She sighed and sat down next to him as a servant came in pushing a small cart with tea and treats. The servant moved around and bowed in front of them.

“Afternoon, Highness’s. My name is Eris, I have been instructed to wait on you as your rooms are being finished. Would you like some tea?”

Rose smiled and nodded, they weren’t able to really make tea on the road and she wished for something hot. Eris nodded and poured her a cup.

“Would you like sugar or milk Highness?”

“No, thank you.” She smiled and rested her chin on her fist, her legs crossed. She wished the rooms were done soon so she was able to get out of these dirt riding clothes. The servant handed her the cup with a bow and smiled.

“We have cake, toast, biscuits, crumpets and cookies, if you’d like some.“ Eris said, gesturing to the cart

“I’m fine with the tea.” Rose replied, closing her eyes

“Actually, hand me a few cookies would you?” Dave piped in, sitting up at the mention of cookies. Dirk and Rose chuckled at him as he was handed few cookies.

“Shut up,” Dave glared at his siblings “Cookies are good”

Rose shook her head and looked across at Dirk, who was relaxed into the armchair he was sitting in. He, out of all of them, probably needed rest the most. Though he was likely not to be able to get much of that because as soon as she was available, he was to talk to the Queen about stuff rose barely knew much about. Their gazes met and he smiled at her, Rose smiled into her cup then looked at Dave who was happily eating a cookie. She giggled and rolled her eyes, sighing into her cup.

“The princess Jade will meet with you all in a bit.” Eris stated “She has been overseeing that your rooms be completed and get ready herself.” She bowed and sighed

“Not to be rude,” dirk started “But you all knew of our arrival nearly two weeks ago, why didn’t you star then?”

She sighed and raised a hand to her eyes, rubbing at the space between them. “We did not know of your arrival, not until yesterday evening”. Dirk raised an eyebrow at her and folded his hands, leaning back.

“You didn’t know? But the Queen was the one who stated that we would come before the end of the month”

“The Queen in her deteriorating mind, often forgets to tell the princess and the staff about things that are happening” she sighed, looking at the foreign royalty “Princess Jade was very worried about it when she found out last night and barely did sleep until it was mostly completed”     

Dirks eyes widened and he laced his fingers over his mouth. “Did the princess get any sleep?” he asked, concerned for the girl.

Eris nodded and smoothed her dress “She did get some sleep after Jacob came and made her”

“Jacob?” Dave asked, his cookie long forgotten “Who’s Jacob?”

“Jacob is the princess’s older brother, the illegitimate child of the queen. He should be coming in soon”

Dirk tensed when he realized that who they were talking about was the person told to be his page. He didn’t realize that he and the princess had any relationship together, he felt a bit wrong to take the boy away from his sister he apparently cares for.

Eris was about to say something when there was a knock at the door, she sighed and went to open it. A young looking boy came in the door and looked around.

“Oh Jake, you’re finally here” Eris sighed quietly, relieved that she alone didn’t have to entertain the royals. Jake nodded and turned toward the royals and bowed.

“Hello Highness’s I am Jake, servant in the castle” He said and closed his eyes, keeping the bow for a few seconds longer before standing straight and looking at the royalty, though not directly at them, “I was given the honor of being Lord Diederik’s Page.”

Dirk looked the boy over, he didn’t seem more than eighteen years old but if he was older than jade that would mean that he was at least twenty or so. He wore simple servant’s clothes, a thing that would change when he truly became Dirks page. His face…was nice, it was smooth, clean, and he had relatively nice features; features Dirk wouldn’t mind looking at-.

No, why is he thinking these thoughts against another male. He shouldn’t be thinking these things, firstly he was a man, Jacob is man, even if it were ‘right’ he could produce no children for his lineage, not that it really mattered, and secondly, he was a pauper, a mere servant. Even though he’s an illegitimate royal it was still wrong-.

“Dirk?” Rose’s voice cut through his train of thought “are you alright? You didn’t seem completely there for a moment”

“Hm? Oh yes, I’m fine” he finally tore his eyes away from the servant and coughed. He shook his head

“Well, you said you are Diederik’s page?” he stated and stood “I am Diederik, it is nice to meet you”

He met eyes with Jacob and kept a plain face, not letting any of his emotions betray him. Jake looked him over and smiled lightly, he bowed to him with a hand over his heart.

“It is an honor to be your page lord Diederik,” Jake said, keeping the bow “I will serve you to the best of my ability”

Dirk nodded and sat back down, the two began talking and getting to know each other. Eris refilled the company’s tea cups and took the opportunity to check in on the completion of the royal’s room, as well as to find out what was going on with Jade. She huffed and rushed up the servants stairwell and came out on the third floor, she patted her dress off and walked over to the rooms that were being worked on, “Triton!” she whispered, looking around in the room, a smaller boy looked up from what he was working on and walked over

“Yes?” he asked, looking up at her

“How long until the rooms are ready? The Dersites are getting antsy”

“Not long now, just pruning the flowers, polishing the silver and making the rooms smell nice ma’am”

Eris looked around the room and noticed only one bed, she tensed and quickly went over to the other room and noticed there was only a single bed in it too.

“Oh dear, this isn’t good…” she whimpered and walked back to Triton “Where’s Annalise?” she asked quickly, her hands twitching.

“Helping the Princess get ready, why?”

“Because there are three royals, not two like we thought, we’ll either need another room ready or but a second bed in one of the rooms”

Triton looked up at her and frowned “How are we going to get a second bed in one of these rooms? It wouldn’t be enough space”

“We’ll make it work okay?” she hissed “Not a word of this to the Princess, alright?”

He nods and shudders at her tone

“Good, I’ll go talk to Anna” she rushed off to the princess’s quarters and knocked on the door

“Who is it?” a voice called, it was Anna’s

“Eris, Ma’am”

“Come in!”

Eris opened the door to the princess’s quarters and saw the bright ginger and the dark haired princess, she walked over to them quickly, and she bowed at the princess and stood next to them.

“Do you need something?” Jade asked, having to keep her head still as Anna put metal pins into her hair and decorated it with flowers

“The Dersites have arrived highness,” she said “They await in the parlor, Jacob is there now.”

“Alright, we’ll finish up in a second”

Eris and Anna looked at each other. The ginger squinted at her and frowned, then beckoned for her to come tell her the other news that she had. Eris stepped forward and blocked a hand over the side of her mouth so Jade wouldn’t hear what was being said.

“There’s a third royal that we didn’t expect, we may need to either get a third room ready or put a second bed in one of the rooms”

Anna’s hands stopped for second and she cursed silently.

“Second bed, we don’t have enough time to get a third room ready,” she whispered “Tell the rest of the staff to put a second bed in the larger room, it’ll be fine”

Eris nodded and left the room quickly to relay the message.

“Everything alright Annalise?” Jade asked once she had left, she looked at Anna through the mirror, a look of concern on her face.

“Nothing for you to worry about highness, let’s just focus on getting you prettied up for the Dersites. Okay?”

“Alright” she sighed and inspected her hair in the mirror. Her hair had been braided into a simple coronet and fine chains danced inside the braid itself, there were two long silver pins in the back of her head keeping the braid steady, along with others along the braid to keep it in position. She smiled and sighed again.

“You work wonders, don’t you Anna?” she giggled

“I’ve been doing it for a long time highness,” she smiled at her though the mirror “s’ how you learn the tools of the trade”

Anna reached over and took the tiara off of the table and placed it snuggly on the princesses head, she also clasped a jade necklace over her neck.

“Beautiful as always highness” she chuckled and patted her shoulder

“Thank you Anna” Jade giggled and fixed her large round glasses, her grandmother had tried to get her to get smaller ones or not wear them at all but she didn’t listen, she liked being able to see everything.

“You look just like your mother…” Anna said softly, looking down at the princess

Jade stopped and froze, rarely did anyone say that. Even after the eighteen years she had passed, the former queen was still a touchy subject, especially around the elder queen.

Anna quickly realized her mistake and tensed

“S-sorry highness I didn’t mean to-“

“No… its fine,” Jade said quietly and stood up “Better not keep our guests waiting any longer, right?”

The other nodded and quickly went over to the door, waiting to open it for the princess. Jade stood up and walked over, her pale green dress flowing behind her. She took in a deep breath and stepped out of the door, walking down the hallway. As she made her way down the stairs, the servants at the bottom of the steps stopped to look at her, she made no mind of it and stepped toward the parlor, her shoes clacking against the floor. There were very few people in the hall and her footsteps echoed throughout the halls. Jade shook her head and stood in front of the parlor door, she took in a deep breath again and the guards opened the doors for her, she stepped in all regal like and turned. All conversation in the room had ceased, everyone stared at her. The servants in the room bowed, though three figures did not.

She held her breath and stepped forward, close enough for talking distance. The elder looking figure slowly sat up, as did the other two.

“Princess,” The elder said and bowed “I am Vice Regent Diederik, I am grateful for you to join us”

Jade nodded and looked to the next person, a girl, she curtsied and smiled at her, pushing her hair behind her hair.

“I am Rose, Princess” she said softly, her voice just like her name

“You introduce yourself with no title but claim you are royalty?” Jade questioned, genuinely curious

“I abandoned my title since I have no interest of taking claim to the Dersite throne”

Jade gaped at her then smiled, nodding. Finally she looked over to the last figure, A boy no older than she, he was dressed in red and he looked just as nervous as herself.

He bowed slightly, his movements tense “It… is an honor to meet… you, princess. I am Prince David, the man to be your fiancé”

“The honor is mine,” she said slowly and placed her hands behind her back. She then turned to all of them and took a step back, curtsying herself

“And I welcome you to the Prospitian castle” 


	7. Why must we follow the destiny of the crown?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if we are our own people, why must we do as they say. why must we bend to the will of the crown?

“Well,” Jade began, looking at the three royals “Seeing as Dave is to be my husband. Would you two mind if I took David for a stroll? You would be free to explore the castle, with a servant of course” she smiled at them and linked her arm with Dave’s.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind. It is up to him though” Dirk replied, smoothing out the front of his tunic as he stood. Looking down at the princess as he smiled lightly

“Uh yeah, that seems like a good idea” the young prince said, shifting uncomfortably as his gazed switched between his two siblings.

“Good!” Jade smiled, “I’ll have Eris show you around while David and I take a stroll through the gardens” she smiled and waved the servant over. Issuing the order to lead the other two royals around the castle.

She watched quietly as Eris lead the others out of the room, she sighed softly as the door shut.

“I’m sorry for kicking your siblings out like this, but I figured it wouldn’t be the most comfortable talking about the unfortunate situation our relatives put us in” Jade said quietly and looked at the other.

“It’s okay” Dave got out “it would be kind of awkward talking about that in front of them” he sighed. “So you said you wanted to walk through the gardens?” he asked

“Ah! Yes, the gardens.” Jade smiled “come on, follow me” she began to lead him out of the other room.

Dave followed slowly, looking around the architecture that was so strange to him, the arches branching over the hallways.

“How different is it?”

He looked at her with his eyes wide in a bit of confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know… everything I guess?”

“Oh, well… we have almost a completely different style of architecture. And kingdom layout is a bit different also. But I mean, your kingdom is primarily is agriculture, while mine is mining, our land doesn’t really have that much space for several farms due to the large forests.”

“Wow… to be honest? I wouldn’t know about my kingdoms layout, I haven’t been allowed to really leave the castle except in carriages and with an entourage” she sighed, tightening the grip on her dress

“Really? You’re the crown princess, shouldn’t you know what’s going on with your subjects?”

“My grandmother doesn’t allow it; she doesn’t want the possibility of something happening to me. I get the servants to go out and tell me what’s going on while they’re out on free time”

“They don’t mind it?”

“No, of course not, they understand that I am not allowed to leave…” there was a twinge of hurt in her voice, rubbing her eye quickly with her free hand.

“I’m sorry”

“It’s alright… do you said you’re a knight?”

“I don’t think I said that?”

“Sorry, it was an assumption, I mean, with how your guards treat you, like with genuine respect, not the kind that comes with title”

“It was not a wrong assumption, I am head of the knights in my land, all the knights and guards answer to me”

Jade stared at him in amazement, though making sure to keep their pace the same and directing him to the courtyard. They made it to the door and two guards opened it for them. Jade stepped out and motioned for Dave to follow her, so they could continue their conversation, once he did walk out, he couldn’t help but stare at, well… everything.

“So your sister, the queen, allowed you to become the head knight?

“Ah, yes, my twin and are the youngest so we never thought of becoming king or queen. So we took on other things instead, my sister became the royal librarian while also denouncing her title and I became the head knight, though I never used my royal lineage as reason why I should be the head knight, I earned it all myself"

"Wow..." Jade breathed out quietly

"It’s nothing to gawk at really," he chuckled lowly, looking away. "So... what about you?"

"what about me?"

"What do you do a lot? Tell me about yourself" Dave looked over, glancing at her.

"There’s not a lot to tell really" she said slowly, curling her hair around her ear.

"Surely there must be something you like to do"

She sighed and thought for a few seconds, then glanced up at the male.

"Follow me"

She slipped her arm out of Dave’s and took his hand, leading him through the courtyard and over to a large hedge with a statue in front of it, depicting a woman with only a cloth toga.

"What-?"

"Help me move this forward some"

He raised an eyebrow a bit and helped her without objection, ending up revealing a small opening in the hedge.

"Uhm...."

Dave almost said something as a new but familiar voice interjected.

"What the hell are you two doing"

The two turned around quickly and looked at the new person who had come up behind them. It was Karkat, looking done with everything as he normally did.

"Oh! Uhm, Hey Karkat" Jade said nervously, standing straight and twisting a small lock of her hair, biting her lip.

He sighed and pinched the arch of his nose, shaking his head. "Look, I know you’re the princess and you go back there a lot but are you really going to take the visiting prince with you?"

Dave looked between them, confusion clear on his face. "Uh what?"

"Jade has a sec-"

"SHSHSHSHSHSHSSH" she leapt over and slapped a hand over his mouth "It’s a seecreeettttt"

Karkat’s look just became more done, and sighed out in an annoyed tone.

“Jade why”

“I don’t show this place to just anyone”

Dave looked between them and the confusion on his face became more apparent. He really didn’t know what was going on anymore.

“Why don’t you come with us Karkat?” jade offered

“Fuckin- fine, okay”

Jade smiled brightly and grabbed Dave’s wrist, slipping behind the statue and entering an even smaller courtyard, being followed by the ever prominent guard. Dave looked back and smiled a bit.

“Sup Kar, nice to see you again”

“If you weren’t foreign royalty, I swear to god”

“Shut up you two!” jade called from the front, letting go of Dave’s hand and spinning around slightly in the courtyard. Sighing happily once they were away from prying eyes. Looking around, the assortment of flowers was just amazing, Dave didn’t even know any of their names but it was just a burst of color, with a small stone bench under a pergola covered in vines and blue flowers. Dave marveled at the sight, just turning around and looking at the multitude and assortment of carefully cared for flowers.

“Holy shit” he breathed out, staring at them all, and when he looked back over at jade, it basically looked like it came right out of a painting. She sat on the bench and glanced over at Dave through her round spectacles, smiling lightly.

“Want to join me?” she hummed, gesturing to the spot next to her.

“Uh sure” he walked over and sat down, fiddling with the hem of his tunic slightly, he looked up over at Karkat, who stood in a loose attention at the entrance, looking bored with the smallest amount of irritation in his face. Dave glanced away and looked back at jade, who sighed a bit, letting a frown settle on her face.

“What do you think about all of this?”

“What?”

“About this arranged marriage business”

“Anything for Derse…” he mumbled quietly, immediately looking down and his face growing cold., picking at his thumb absent mindedly

“But why, as

“But why _should_ we do anything for our kingdoms, I never wanted to be a princess. I wanted to be an apothecary! I read science books in the pass time. Yet, since I am the only princess, I have to become queen. Don’t you think it isn’t fair?”

“Nothing in life is fair _princessa_ ” Karkat said quietly from his position at the entrance “you yourself should know that”

“I mean; I wasn’t supposed to have any chance at all for the crown…” Dave mumbles quietly

“lucky you…”

“I love my kingdom, I love my country, I want to serve it! But… not like this, I can’t rule”

“I’ve been groomed since day one to serve and rule my country” Jade sighed, picking a flower from one of her beds and held it up, sighing softly into it. “as proper as I may sound in front of people, I am nothing like the image I put on”

Dave looked at her and sighed a bit as well, reaching up and brushing the loose strand of her hair back behind her ear.

“I’m sorry”

“It’s not your fault”

Dave sighed and looked down, this was going to be a while. Wasn’t it?

\--

Rose flopped down on one of the twin beds in the bedroom she and Dave would share. After much protest of Dirk and some of the staff of course. There was no point of having this enormous fuss about getting another room ready when she and Dave could just share a room, they did so throughout their entire childhood, and now was no different. She hummed and sighed, she still stank of horses, which was frankly disgusting and she was just now noticing it which made her worry a bit about Dave. For a few seconds she thought a bit, wondering what Dirk was doing, taking a bath probably. He took baths the most out of all the people she knew, but that was just a personal thing that had to do with cleanliness. She hummed and sat up, searching through her suitcase to find a set of better clothes to change into, rather than her riding garb.

Without even Rose needing to ask, a servant came in with warm water for a bath, she looked over a bit confused but shrugged. Convenient.

“Lord Dirk said that you would probably be wanting a bath and had water sent to you”

“Ah, okay. Thank you.”

“I’ll go draw the bath for you ma’am”

She nodded and hummed in approval. She gathered the rest of her bathing stuff and walked into the small separate room for bathing. The tub was soon filled and small amounts of salts tossed in.

“Do you need help undressing ma’am?”

“No” she hummed, draping her clothes over the privacy shade next to the tub.

“I’ll be back in with fresh towels in a few moments ma’am”

“alright” Rose smiled a bit and pulled her hair up, tying it in a small bun at the base of her skull as she began to undress. A lot of thoughts went through her head, but the most reverent one was the wonderment of how Dirk was doing with his new Page.

 

Dirks stomach growled a bit as he relaxed into the chair, his legs and arse were sore from riding most of the morning, and the long walk around the castle just made him even more sore. He toyed with the option of taking a nap but his new page was standing over next to the door, looking just about as awkward as he did and trying to fall asleep while a stranger watched you, isn’t the most comforting thing. Thinking about it, he kind of really wanted to take a bath, he ranked of horses. A bath was in order.

“Jake?”

“Yes Milord?”

“Go have a servant bring me water and towels for a bath” he hummed, slowly sitting up and wincing at his sore legs. Rose probably wants one as well, wouldn’t she? “also, tell them if my sister hasn’t taken water for a bath, send some to her”

Jake nodded and left the room quickly. Dirk watched the smaller male go and frowned a bit, he was still thinking about how Jake was even left under him as a page, he was wondering about the motives behind it. It really wasn’t any of his business, except in receiving. So that was that. Jake returned a few minutes later and filled the tub in the other room, laying out towels and salts for Dirk to get clean with. Dirk shook his head and stretched, pulling together better clothes than what he was wearing and set them down on his bed. He gave Jake a simple nod, allowing the page to leave. After the door was closed, dirk undressed quickly, sliding into the bath with a sigh. He scrubbed himself clean, getting the stench of horse off of him. And with that he relaxed, rubbing his thighs and legs slowly, massaging the tightness out of them, just as there was a knock at the bathroom door. He looked up and took his hands off, resting his elbows on the sides of the tub.

“Come in” he called

Jake came in quickly and shut the door behind him to not let any of the hot air escape. The Page looked at his master and blushed a bit, staring for a few seconds before averting his eyes. Pushing all sinful thoughts down.

“Yes, what is it” Dirk sighed, a bit impatient.

“The Dinner that was supposed to happen tonight got cancelled because Her Majesty the Queen was feeling too ill to come down. I came to ask if you would like me to fetch you some food”

“Ah. Yes, please. Also, ask my siblings if they’ll join me, dinner alone isn’t that fun” he hummed, still looking directly at his page. Looking over his body and thinking definitely very sinful things. He shook his head quickly, trying to dislodge all the perverse thoughts in his head.

“Yes Milord”

“Oh, Jake?”

“Yes Milord?”

“You don’t have to call me Milord when were alone, Dirk is fine. Seeing as you’ll be near me majority of the time I figured it would be alright for you to call me the same as my siblings do”

“O-okay…Dirk”

He smiled and couldn’t help but watch the others arse as he left the room.

 

Dinner went without incident, the three siblings talking quietly about what had happened. They discussed their thoughts about the apparent royalty and the queen in hushed tones. Eyes glancing over to Jake every once in a while. This was certainly to be an interesting trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no longer hiatus, yay  
> i have no idea when the next will come out  
> also comments are appreciated

**Author's Note:**

> QUICK NOTES GO  
> Jade I is Grandma English  
> Jade III is our normal Jade Harely!  
> Diederik (Day-der-ik) is Dirk  
> David is Dave  
> Rosalie is Rosa  
> Roxana is Roxy


End file.
